Fall Commercial Dungeness Crab Announcement

The Fall Dungeness Crab Announcement is out and the 2017/2018 commercial Dungeness crab fall fishing season in Registration Area A (Southeastern Alaska) will be reduced in duration. All waters open to commercial Dungeness fishing in Southeastern Alaska will open at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 1, 2017 and will close at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.

Based on data from port sampling and fish tickets, the department has determined that the proportion of legal-size male soft-shelled Dungeness crabs discarded during the first week of the summer season was above the previous three-year average, but the amount was not a contributing factor in failing to meet the 2.25 million pound harvest projection threshold described in the Southeastern Alaska Dungeness Crab Management Plan. Therefore, per 5 AAC 32.146(2)(B), the commercial Dungeness crab fall fishing season in Southeastern Alaska will be open for 30 days.